---
description: 'This quickstart guide will help you set up a Medusa backend in three steps.'
addHowToData: true
---

import Feedback from '@site/src/components/Feedback';

# Install Medusa Backend

This document will guide you through setting up your Medusa backend in a three steps.

## Prerequisites

### Node.js

Medusa supports Node v16 or greater. You can check which version of Node you have by running the following command:

```bash noReport
node -v
```

You can install Node from the [official website](https://nodejs.org/en/).

### Git

Git is required for this setup. You can find instructions on how to install it from the [Set up your dev environment documentation](../../development/backend/prepare-environment.mdx#git).

---

## Create a Medusa Backend

:::tip

It is recommended to use [Yarn](https://yarnpkg.com/getting-started/install) for the installation process as it's much faster than using NPM.

:::

### 1. Install Medusa CLI

   ```bash npm2yarn
   npm install @medusajs/medusa-cli -g
   ```

:::note

If you run into any errors while installing the CLI tool, check out the [troubleshooting guide](../../troubleshooting/cli-installation-errors.mdx).

:::

### 2. Create a new Medusa project

   ```bash noReport
   medusa new my-medusa-store --seed
   ```

### 3. Start your Medusa backend

   ```bash noReport
   cd my-medusa-store
   medusa develop
   ```

<Feedback 
   event="survey_server_quickstart"
   question="Did you set up the backend successfully?"
   positiveQuestion="Is there anything that should improved?"
   negativeQuestion="Please describe the issue you faced."
/>

### Test the Backend

After these three steps and in only a couple of minutes, you now have a complete commerce engine running locally. You can test it out by sending a request using a tool like Postman or through the command line:

```bash noReport
curl localhost:9000/store/products
```

---

## Next Steps

### Learn about the Architecture

Medusa backend is made up of different resources that make it a powerful server. Get an overview of them in the [Medusa Architecture Overview](../fundamentals/architecture-overview.md) documentation.

### Set Up Development Environment

For an optimal experience developing with Medusa and to make sure you can use its advanced functionalities, you'll need to install more tools such as PostgreSQL.

Follow [this documentation to learn how to set up your development environment](../../development/backend/prepare-environment.mdx).

### Backend Configurations

It's important to configure your Medusa backend properly and learn how environment variables are loaded.

You can learn more about configuring your backend and loading environment variables in the [Configure your Backend documentation](../../development/backend/configurations.md).

### File Service Plugin

To upload product images to your Medusa backend, you must install and configure one of the following file service plugins:

- [MinIO](../../plugins/file-service/minio.md) (Recommended for local development)
- [S3](../../plugins/file-service/s3.md)
- [DigitalOcean Spaces](../../plugins/file-service/spaces.md)
